Fire Marshall: Fireworks are Best Left to Professionals

It is illegal for private citizens to use, sell or possess fireworks in Massachusetts. It is also against the law to purchase fireworks in a state where devices are legal, such as New Hampshire, and bring them back across the state line. Stephen Coan is the Massachusetts State Fire Marshall. He says the use of fireworks by amateurs has long been a safety issue in the Bay State.

“In the last decade, there’s been over 800 fires reported from fireworks, and they have resulted in one death, 18 civilian injuries and almost three-million dollars in property damage”.

Coan says the types of injuries from fireworks-related incidents are often traumatic in nature.

“Loss of digits, burns to the face and burns to the body and also eye injuries as a result of a misfire of aerial devices.”

Sparklers are also illegal in Massachusetts. While popular with children, Coan says too often they just aren’t safe.

“The tip of a sparkler burns in excess of 1,800 degrees and you just think for a moment about that instantaneous contact with skin or with clothing, so they are of concern to us.”

In Connecticut and Vermont, Sparklers are the only type of fireworks that are legal. Fireworks are legal in New Hampshire.